Method:
Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Wisk all dry ingredients except chocolate (chopped and chips), mix in butter cubes, whole eggs, orange juice or extract and than finally chocolates. Form cookies and bake for 12-13 minutes.
Cool and enjoy. If you’re making small,hazelnut sized cookies bake for 10 minutes only.

How to make perfect meringue: Preheat the oven to 140°C/284°F. Put your egg whites into a clean bowl and whisk them at a medium speed until they start to form nice firm peaks. With your mixer still running, gradually add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Turn the mixer up to the highest setting and whisk for 5 minutes and add starch. Wisk until the meringue is white, glossy and smooth, about 2 minutes. If you don’t have starch, add vinegar instead. It’s good to leave egg whites on room temperature for couple of hours prior whisking.

Line two baking trays with baking paper. Divide the meringue mixture with pastry bag, using gentle, even pressure, squeeze out a dollop of icing or meringue, lifting the bag as you do so. If you don’t want to form pretty starlike shapes just divide mixture evenly between baking papers and shape each blob into a circle about 24 cm in diameter. Put both trays into the oven and bake for 1 hour until the meringues look slightly golden and are fluffy in the middle.

How to make easy lemon curd: In a medium saucepan, whisk together butter cubes with sugar until nice and smooth, gradually add egg by egg and then the egg yolks. Now pour in the lemon juice and whisk for few more minutes. Set the soucepan over low heat, whisking constantly. After few minutes add grated lemon zest and increase the heat and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and just begins to become jelly-like. It’s done when you lift the whisk and the mixture holds its shape when it falls back into the saucepan from the whisk. With this method you don’t have to press the curd through the strainer. You will need about 1/4 cup of cooled lemon curd for this recipe. Store the leftovers in the refrigerator, it will keep for up to one week. You can use it as a spread on toasts of fill delicious crostata. Anyway, add desired amount of lemon curd into mascarpone and whisk until you get nice creamy texture. If you like sour taste you can always put more lemon curd like I did but most people will be satisfied with ratio 1/4 cup:500g mascarpone.

]]>https://addmoreflavor.com/2015/10/15/lemon-meringue-cake/feed/0addmoreflavorIMG_4771IMG_4770Attachment-1FullSizeRenderHealthy chocolate oatmeal cookieshttps://addmoreflavor.com/2015/10/01/healthy-chocolate-oatmeal-cookies/
https://addmoreflavor.com/2015/10/01/healthy-chocolate-oatmeal-cookies/#respondThu, 01 Oct 2015 11:14:41 +0000http://addmoreflavor.com/?p=473Continue reading Healthy chocolate oatmeal cookies]]>There was a lot of baking in our house last weekend as we celebrated our sons 4th birthday. We had 65 people coming over so there was a lot of baking and cooking to feed that many people! Last year our son suffered from egg and diary allergy so there was a special eggless cake on a menu. Surprising nobody noticed that cake was “different” or less tasty than the other traditional cake we served grown ups (you know that kids rarely finish eating a whole piece of cake so mummies and daddies usually finish the leftovers).
Conclusion: healthy can be delicious too!

I have a confession to make, this years cake was not healthy but my kid gets to eat cakes birthdays only so it’s not a crime. I found decoration inspiration on Pinterest. I was actually suppose to make fondant dinosaur cake decoration but in lack of time this was great solution! Kit Kat and M&M, fast and nice, do you like it as well?

We were suppose to prepare some treats for his kindergarden friends there as well, so I called health consultant to check what can be brought to kids. Some parents bring candies and cookies but she raccomanded dried or fresh fruit in order to learn children better eating habits. That was great to hear because we prerare healthy desserts really often and I like to include my son in preparation. It’s fun to buy groceries together but the main fun starts in kitchen. Measuring, mixing, sticky hands… Ofcourse, kitchen is a mess afterwords but it’s fun and creative for kids so you can handle some extra cleaning!

What are we making for Luca’s kindergarten birthday celebration? Some super tasty cookies and dried fruit energy balls.

Cookies must be:
HEALTHY
DELICOUS
CRUNCHY
RIGHT(BITE)-SIZED
and a little DARK high quality CHOCOLATE will do no harm, it’s a BIRTHDAY party after all isn’t it? (choose diary free version if vegan)

If you are searching for oatmeal cookie recipe that is delicious, healthy, vegan and simple to make your search is over. I tried to write down exact measures because a scale is something I rarely use when cooking.

Directions: 1. Preheat the oven, 325F/160C2. Grind soaked and drained dates into fine paste 3. Wisk all the dry ingredients 4. Stir all the wet ingredients 5. Add the wet mixture on top of the dry mixture and stir well until combined and all of the dry patches of flour are gone. 6.Portion small balls of dough onto the baking sheet and press it down to form a cookie7. Bake for 13-14 minutes and let it cool for at least 30 minutes in order to become crunchy

*You can omit brown sugar and make your sugar free cookies with Splenda.
**If you’re making flex egg for the first time you should know that you should use grounded flax seed only! Just stir 1tbs flax seed with 2.5bs cold water and let it rest aside for 5 minutes.It makes substitute for about 1 egg.As simple as that. Enjoy your cookies!

This summer was really hot and I still baked cakes at least once a week. Since my little angel was born in April, in lack of time I served only simple desserts this summer Not counting special occasions like birthdays of course! One day I made simple fruit cake with chopped dark chocolate and it was so delicious. Friends asked me for a recipe several times so it’s high time I share it.

It’s one of the simpliest dessert I ever made, a must try for those who never baked a cake before.

Preheat oven to 190C/375F.
Butter an 26cm/10-inch cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, coconut flour and starch.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Beat in 1/2 the flour mixture, then yogurt. Add remaining flour mixture, mix just until combined.
Spread batter into pan and sprinkle desired fruit and chopped chocolate over batter.
Bake until cake is golden, about 30 minutes and than loosely tent with foil and bake until cake pulls away from side of pan and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 minutes more.
Let cake cool completely in pan. Run knife around cake edge and remove cake from pan.
Dust well with confectioners’ sugar before serving. It tastes best served warm with vanilla ice-cream.

]]>https://addmoreflavor.com/2015/09/21/choco-fruit-cake/feed/0addmoreflavorIMG_4406IMG_4407IMG_4404IMG_4405IMG_4219IMG_4406IMG_4218Delicous foccacciahttps://addmoreflavor.com/2015/01/13/delicous-foccaccia/
https://addmoreflavor.com/2015/01/13/delicous-foccaccia/#respondTue, 13 Jan 2015 14:05:35 +0000http://addmoreflavor.com/?p=371Continue reading Delicous foccaccia]]>When we have unexpected guests for dinner I love to make foccaccia because flour, yeast and olive oil is something we always have in kitchen. It makes home smell so wonderful and tastes so good that you will always leave great impression! Foccaccia is easy to make but be sure to prepare it 2 hours prior to guests arrival because dough has to rice twice and it bakes for about half an hour. There are so many ways to top foccaccia but more less one basic recipe (with small variations)

“Basic foccaccia recipe”
-makes 8 portions or 6 if you have hungry friends-

Place flour and 1 teaspoon of sea salt into a large bowl, and make a well in the middle. Add the yeast and honey to the lukewarm water, and mix with a fork. Leave this for five minutes and when it starts to foam slowly pour it into the well, mixing quickly with a fork. Ad wine and at least 30ml olive oil and continue to nead for around 5 minutes until you have a smooth and soft ball of dough. When I’m preparing few meals in same time I like to use stand alone mixer so feel free to use it. You will get same results but there is something therapeutic about dough hand neading!

Lightly oil a large bowl (from bottom to top) with olive oil and transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover with clean dry kitchen cloth and leave to rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes or until doubled in size. While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 220°C/428°F and prepare the topping.

Foccaccia tastes great in classic version, topped with kosher salt, rosmary and olive oils. In that case I like to bake it few more minutes for extra crust. Here is how we like to eat it lately…

“Foccaccia with fake pesto”

It looks like peso genovese at first but it’s not! I like to call it “fake pesto”, made of pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds. If you chop seeds finely you’ll get fine, green, pesto like texture. One or two teaspoons of each will do, but I like to make some more and store it as salad topping, it gives radicchio and regular salad excellent taste especcially if you tost seeds in pan for few minutes!

Follow basic foccaccia recipe.As soon as the dough has risen pour it to retangular baking tray and spread seeds mixture all over. Cover with cloth and let rise for another 20 minutes. Push dough with fingers like you’re playing piano to make lots of dips and wells. Sprinkle well with extra virgin olive oil and place in oven for 30 minutes until it creates wonderful golden crust.

“Mozzarella and rucola foccaccia”

It feels like summer again! Delicious foccaccia like this is made of rucola, 125 gr/1 cup mozzarella and some grated parmesan cheese. You can use basil instead of rucola and some finely chopped dried or fresh cherry tomatos…So yummy!

Follow basic foccaccia recipe.
Divide dought in two pieces. Place fist half in round 11″/ 28cm baking tray and top with cheese and rucola. Cover with remaining dough and let rise covered with dry kitchen cloth for about 20 minutes. Push dough all over with fingers like you’re playing piano to make lots of dips and wells. Finish with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Bake for 30-35 minutes, it will remain soft and tender inside and golden crunchy outside.

Serve foccaccia with olives, goat cheese, stracchino, burratta, smoked almond or whatever you like. It tastes so good even when you eat it alone!

Trying to find simple, tasty and super healthy dessert recipe? Well you’ve found one, loved even by real sweet adicts. It requires no added sugar, eggs, fat or milk so it’s great for vegans and allergy sufferers (if you leave out nuts ofcourse). Best of all, recipe is children proof! Kids love to make and eat them so be free to prepare them together and to serve as super healthy snack or after lunch treat! This dessert contains lots of minerals, vitamins and fiber so you can enjoy without sense of guilt.

Mix all ingridients in hand chopper or blender for a minute or two. Add just a bit of rice or oat milk if needed. Form small balls and roll them in raw cocoa, coconut, cinnemon, chopped almonds, hazelnuts…You can enjoy this tasty dessert right away or store them closed in cool place for few days! Choose organic dried fruit that contains no harmful sulfites.

I really love soup so there is almost always a fish, vegetable, meat, cream or clear soup on a daily menu. If I must pick, my favorite would be creamy textured veggies soup. You can use almost anything out of garden or market : asparagus, zucchini, potato, pies, carrots, parsnip, cauliflower… I just has to be: simple, healthy and served hot!

This Sunday I went to the market with world favorite shopping company, my two year old son Luca. He always gets an apple, pear or tangerine from lovely people from the market so he enjoyes it probably more than I do. We bought lovely pumpkin, organic carrots, parsnip, celery leaf and root, parsley and onion. He watches me cooking since he was born so his favorite toy is actualy a pot! He loves to pretend he’s making a soup or cooking eggs, so cute! While I was making a pumpkin soup for Sunday lunch I got hungry and took tasty fish soup I made the day before from fridge and warmed it up. So yummy!

Here is the way I prepare a pumpkin soup, it’s really tasty, simple, affordable and meatless.

Healthy Pumpkin Soup

-Recipe is more than simple, tasty and very affordable. It’s also low in calories so if you are a weight watcher go go go!-

-Makes four quite big portions or six small ones-

1/2 Pampkin

2 carrots (I used one regular and one yellow)

1 parsnip

1/2 celery

1/2 onion

some parsley and celery leaf

black and red pepper

salt according to taste

Wash and peel pampkin, carrots, parnsip, celery and onion. Wash parsley and celery leaf. Cut all root vegetables in large pieces, there is no need to bother with small cubes since we need to mix all up when cooked. Put it all in pot, season with salt and pepper (we love to use more pepper and less salt to feel lovely sweetness of pumpkin) cover with water and cook for about 40 minutes. This time I used lovely personalized Silit pressure cooker we got as a gift, it took about 20 minutes after hearing steam sound. Let it cool for few minutes and blend it for creamy texture. You don’t need to trow away excess of soup as it can be used as stock for wonderful mild risotto. If you don’t want to cook it now, you can use good trick- soup ice cubes you can use every time you want a vegetable risotto!

Enjoy!

]]>https://addmoreflavor.com/2013/11/25/healthy-pumpkin-soup/feed/0addmoreflavorGp&me pealerSilit pot10″ Delicious Mascarpone Creamhttps://addmoreflavor.com/2013/11/19/10-delicious-mascarpone-cream/
https://addmoreflavor.com/2013/11/19/10-delicious-mascarpone-cream/#respondTue, 19 Nov 2013 15:06:36 +0000http://addmoreflavor.com/?p=229Continue reading 10″ Delicious Mascarpone Cream]]>It’s been my mission lately to find simplest and quickest desserts recipes. I never ever bought pudding or any other dessert that pops out of a bag, don’t trust instant food. I think it’s way better to make pancakes in case of sudden, unexpected guests or night crave for something sweet. Let me share a tasty and simple dessert I made atleast 4 times last month. All you need from fridge for this great 10″ dessert is: mascarpone, eggs, sugar, some liquer and vanilla been. All other ingredients are optional. Be prepared to recieve as much compliments as when you make complicated layer cakes!

10″ Mascarpone cream

-makes 4 servigs-

-adopted from giallo zafferano.it-

250 g Mascarpone cheese

4 whole eggs

4 tsp cognac (or any other liquer you love, original recipe uses Marsala)

4 tbsp granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean

few tbsp Nutella and blackberry marmolade (you can add caramel, melted chocolate and any other marmolade you think goes best with mascarpone)

4 pcs Petit Buerre cookies (or any other dry cookie)

20 g dark chocolate (od good quality cocoa powder)

Separate the egg whites from the yolks, beat yolks with sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add cognac (don’t stop beating), mascarpone cheese and finally vanilla seeds. Beat until all ingredients are well blended. Add previously firmly beaten egg whites stirring with a spatula from the bottom up. Chush your favourite cookies on the bottom of 4 bowls, add one half of mascarpone cream, few drops of nutella and marmolade and cover with second half of mascarpone cream. Sprinkle all with grated dark chocolate or good quality cocoa powder. You can put also cruched almonds, crunchy granola, hot chocolate souce, hot berry souce…use whatever you find in your house.

We invited frends over for dinner last night. As we got back late from work we were pleased that our son wants to go to bed early, otherwise top achievement would be tomato and basil bruschetta. What do you prepare in lack of time when you still wish to make an impression? I remembered that I recently bought home made tortillas from one lady that prepares them for local restaurants, I’ve put them in freezer, just in case of unexpected guests or mexican food hungry husband. It was excellant opportunity to add spicy flavor in early October night. I would have made them myself but admit that bought ones were perfectly thin, elastic and tender. If you have great proven recipe for tender tortilla, please share! Thing I like most about tacos, burritos and wraps is wonderful food sharing. So many colorful plates and bowls on dinner table, smiling faces that are busy making their meal and passing bowls to each other. First time I tried tortilla was ten years ago when I was living at Munich, Germany. I was there to learn german after graduation and my dear friends who live there invited me over for dinner. Ever since I love to prepare them for friend because you get to prepare something tasty and (more less) healthy that it sutable also for my vegeterian friend Aleksandra, and to enjoy it yourself. I don’t know about you guys, but how often do you get to sit peacefully with your guests when preparing dinner?

I think there is no need to write in steps recipe but will be happy to share what was served last night on our table. If there is need process description please comment!

Heat tortillas on hot pan for few seconds on each side, cover to keep them warm for serving. Let your guests decide what and how much to fill. Eat with hands please, forget forks and knife! It was so good that I forgot to take more pictures!

I finished dinner with simplest dessert I ever made. My hubby liked it so much that we ask me to do it again today after lunch. Read about it in my next blog!